David Ágape stated that journalists faced conflicts of interest when covering their own employers, especially due to work relationships. He compared this type of conflict to others, such as family ties, friendships, and ideological affinities, and said it also existed in science. According to Ágape, professionals from Metrópoles, Estadão, Folha, and O Globo did not usually publicly criticize their own outlets without permission. He also stated that advertisers could influence, directly or indirectly, the agendas of newspapers. In his assessment, in the model of free news, the product was the readers' attention and the client was the advertiser; he said that the Master case had made this dynamic evident. Ágape defended the existence of various competing outlets and mentioned what he called the "Consortium" during the pandemic. He noted that journalists still had individual responsibility to refuse unethical or illegal orders, but said that this aspect was often ignored in discussions on social media. He also advocated for alternative journalism funded by readers and called for subscriptions to support the outlet A Investigação and its independence. https://t.co/XuG3rvfuLG #Jornalismo #ConflitoDeInteresses #ImprensaIndependente (translated)
